


Getting to know you.

by Whizzick



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Bands, British Character, F/M, Gang Violence, Light-Hearted, Musical Instruments, Protective Siblings, Singing, Smoking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-27
Updated: 2019-02-27
Packaged: 2019-11-06 17:40:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17944190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whizzick/pseuds/Whizzick
Summary: 2 half siblings move out to their late grandfather's farm. One is an asshole and the other is upbeat and rambunctious.****THIS IS ALSO STILL A WIP!!!***Please understand this is my first piece of work in more than 10 years ;u;





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The first chapter is REALLY slow, I'm sorry!! Just establishing characters :)

**Chapter**   **1**

_A new home and lots of new faces_

* * *

   

   The taxi came to an abrupt halt outside a shambly old bus stop on the side of a highway surrounded by trees, and at the bus stop waited an older man in a forest green button up with brown pants and suspenders, accompanied by a younger, slightly taller red haired woman dressed in yellows and other earthy colors.

"Must be Lewis." Roman stated as he reached down to grab his backpack. Riley was too busy waving madly at the pair, she had been looking forward to this day since she and her brother had decided to take up their late grandfather's wish by moving out to his old farm. She barely waited for the taxi to come to a complete stop before barreling out of the vehicle and toward the two strangers. She greeted them with unbridled positivity, shaking hands and beaming smiles and mentions to the older man that her grandfather spoke of him often.

Roman grumbled as he picked up her phone that she carelessly left in the cab and paid the driver as he exited and moved to the back to grab the rest of their bags.

"And this must be Roman!" He heard an old weathered voice chime in. Roman looked over his shoulder to see the three of them making their way over, Riley stumbling over every word she was saying, per usual, and trying to grab all of her bags at once.

"Let us help, that way we can all make it to the house and get you guys settled in much faster." The red head suggested.

"I agree, thank you very much." Roman smiled, "sorry though, I didn't quite catch your name, miss..?"

"Robin!" She answered, eyes wide in response to his voice, "a-are you two actually related?"

This question was common, usually because of Roman's rather thick accent, having grown up in Liverpool, but also because the pair looked almost nothing alike; Roman was tall, slender with moderate muscle, his hair usually in a messy mohawk, with a natural caramel skin color and bright amber eyes. His sister on the other hand, was shorter, thin with no muscle but filled out nicely, 'where it mattered' as she would state, her skin was also much lighter than his, her hair though was always changing, today it was long and tied into a quick bun and dyed a deep maroon, although, like him, her eyes were also a bright amber.

"We're half siblings." Riley said, "we found out...how many years now? Three?" She nodded as she spoke, answering her own question, "our mother contacted him and we met before she passed."

Robin and Lewis exchanged looks, but before someone could speak the awkward apology that comes with the news of someone's family member dying Riley continued,

"but it's cool! I got this weird British brother to keep me company! And you've got me!" She landed a playful punch on his arm.

"Oh wonderful!" He said in a voice that mocked annoyance and rolled his eyes sarcastically.

"Well!" Lewis clapped his hands together, "why don't we head to the farm and get you two settled in, the town is dying to meet you! So the sooner the better!"

* * *

"UGH!" Roman groaned, flopping onto the old couch, flinging decades of dust into the air. The both of them coughed as the air cleared, "this place is going to need work. We're going to need income. I need to see if these blokes need a mechanic. AND WHAT I WOULDN'T GIVE FOR SOME DAMNED SKUNK!"

Riley pushed her hair out of her face as she went digging through one of her bags to look for her phone charger. It was practically dead since of her terrible addiction to phone games on long trips, "well, we have our own place now, but good luck finding some of that smelly stuff in a small town like this," she looked around at the emptied kitchen that was connected seamlessly to the equally empty living room.

There was a hallway to her right that led to the master bedroom and a staircase that was the only divider of the living room and kitchen that led to the upstairs, which they discovered was just a smaller "living room" and another bedroom to the side. Roman claimed the upstairs since he figured he wouldn't be coming and going as often as his adventurous sister would be, and besides, if he did manage to find his precious herb, it would be easier to ventilate from the upstairs.

"I'm going to go see what they have for shops and food around here." Riley stated, "if I find food, would you like something from their trash you gremlin?"

"Fuck you!" He answered from the couch, checking if his phone could get any type of service before he would undoubtedly spend the day setting up all of their electronics and wifi, "I'm a troll and you know it you fucking harpy! But if you manage to find some pizza, I wont turn it down."

"Alright! I'll be back in a few hours!" She sang and left as quickly as it took her to respond. Roman couldnt understand how his sister was always so energized, even in an entirely new place full of people neither of them have met.

* * *

Riley made good time as she skipped down toward the hub of the town and took a moment to examine everything. It was quiet for a Thursday afternoon. She noticed the clinic first, as it was directly in front of her, connected to what seemed to be the local general store with a large sign jutting out above the door that read "Pierre's". Further observation she noticed a humble and homely looking structure, upon reading the sign barely visible from where she was standing she could see it was some type of saloon, then it just seemed to be residential homes for now. She figured she could go grocery shopping at the local shop tomorrow so instead figured that she would be more interested in the potential of the saloon.

Upon entering she was greeted with a beautiful medley of smells, food mostly. She noticed an older blonde woman at the bar chatting drunkenly at a round happy looking bartender who was cleaning his bar while continuing the blonde's conversation, almost like he had been doing it every night for a very long time. Her eyes were immediately caught by bright blue hair and equally bright red dress and before she was aware of her own actions she found herself seated at the bar across from the girl behind the counter, while just in time the woman had started to turn around and noticed Riley taking a seat. A bright smile shone through a shade of red lipstick that flawlessly complimented her dress.

"Hey there! You must be the new girl that just moved in! My name's Emily!" She greeted then her gaze glanced around the room, "isnt there supposed to be two of you? A brother right?"

Riley snickered, "the creature that has the personality of a log is getting the new home put together while I hunt for food. My name's Riley! Nice to meet you Eimly!"

"Oh I'm sure he's not that bad, if his energy is anything like yours I think the three of us can get along great!" Emily responded, "as for food, here's our menu, what can I get for you?" She slid a laminated sheet of paper across the counter and into Riley's grasp.

Riley scanned the menu quickly, since her stomach made it very apparent she hadn't eaten in the last 10 hours. "Uh, just a cheese pizza would be great."

"Sounds good!" Emily responded and placed a glass of ice water down next to her customer, "here's some water to hold you off while I get your order, give you time to look over our drink selection." She smiled and disappeared to go fulfill Riley's order.

Riley sipped her glass and looked around, making note to avoid the drunken woman further down the bar from her, she looked like she was too many drinks in to even remember a new face or not. She leaned back in her seat and peeked down what looked like a small hallway and to her delight she was greeted with what seemed like a game room. What's a quick arcade going to hurt while she waited to eat? She got up, grabbed her drink and made her way over before stopping quickly at the entry when she saw a pair that looked close to her age: a boy, tall, thin, with hair as bright and wild as the sun and a girl, curvy with beautifully tousled purple hair. Riley wasted no time introducing herself.

"Hey there!" She greeted, making her presence known. "I'm Riley, my brother and I just moved to town today!"

The girl looked up from the couch, she seemed to be fiddling with what looked like some type of pretty stone and the boy, hovering over the pool table, flipped around to see the face that came with the voice that surprised him. They both smiled, although the boy's much mored excited than the girl's more subtle smile.

"Hey! Glad to meet you! I'm Sam! That's Abigail!" He beamed with energy that was matched to Riley's, "we heard the news this morning, glad to meet, well, the first half of the newcomers!"

Riley quickly made herself a part of the room, moving over to one of the arcade stands and leaning onto it, "Yeah, the other one is probably either sleeping or trying to get the router set up as fast as humanly possible." She laughed, "he doesn't like socializing, so I figured I'd meet everyone for the both of us."

The two others laughed and shared a glance while it looked like Sam was speaking for the both of them, "sounds like someone we know." "It's pretty bittersweet," Abigail spoke finally, "having someone new is sweet, but I did like exploring the abandoned land"

"Oh you can explore any time, I can't imagine we can get that yard in any way pretty overnight."Riley chuckled, sipping on her water.

Before any of them could speak, Emily poked her head in, "Miss Riley? Your pizza is ready!"

"Ah, thanks! I should probably take it home while it's still warm," she turned to the pair she just met, "catch you guys later?"

"Yeah! Come on by tomorrow night and we can bring our basement troll!" Sam piped quickly.

"Sounds great!" Riley responded with a grin and left to pay for her food and make her way back home before it got cold.

* * *

"Oh fucking hell this is good" Roman said, barely getting words out as he stuffed his cheeks full of the still warm pizza Riley had brought home for them. He had made himself busy and set up their internet, got all of their game consoles hooked up and organized, and moved all of their bags to the appropriate rooms.

"Anything tastes good after no snacks and a long trip." Riley countered, stuffing her face full of their meal as well, "but this has to be the best pizza I've ever had." The two of them leaned back on the old couch while Roman flicked through their streaming programs for something to watch.

"Movie or Tv?" He asked.

"Ah, let's watch a scary movie to make moving into a new house more interesting" Riley teased, "how about The Hills Have Eyes? Seems fitting."

"You're a fucking psycho, ok." Roman laughed and selected the movie. "By the way, we're going to the saloon tomorrow night, everyone wants to meet you."

"Ugh, really?"

"Yes, and I met these two fun looking people who had a third friend who seemed like you I guess. Oh! And there is this REALLY pretty girl with blue hair, her name is Emily."

"Oh, so this Emily, eh? Wanna tell me more about her?" Roman playfully nudged his sister.

"Shut up! We haven't been here more than 12 hours and already you think the worst of me!"

"Am I wrong?" "Shut up." She pouted and took another bite of pizza.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two siblings go out to the saloon! Riley knocks someone down on accident and Roman takes a trash can smoke break.

**Chapter 2**

_Riley acts weird_

* * *

 

The next day came rather quickly, the siblings spent a few hours of their morning pulling weeds and overgrown bushes out of the main pathway to the front door.

Riley was beyond excited to plant some of the parsnip seeds that Lewis had left them. He mentioned that he hoped one of the two would be interested in farming and put the land to some good use. Of course Roman wasn't interested, since the only dirt he enjoyed on him was motor oil after a day of fixing up cars, Riley had always dreamed of farming and this seemed like a great reason to start. Besides, they needed income, didn't they? So after clearing some land, Riley gleefully planted the seeds and set up a little sign for them. She had also made sure to review every gardening tip she could find in hope's her first harvest, whenever it was, would be a successful one.

Once satisfied with her work she bid her brother a farewell while she went out to buy some groceries for the week. As she left for the store, she noticed the sky get dark and a few drops landed on her head. Huffing, she trotted back to the house to put on a longer sleeved shirt, since she had just been wearing a sports bra and athletic pants, and grab an umbrella. Her brother had already went inside and was washing the dirt off his hands.

"I'm only getting a few things then, it started to rain" she huffed again.

"You want me to go with you?" Roman offered.

"Nah, I'm sure you have other things you want to do to the place while I'm away anyways." She responded as they said their goodbyes and she left quickly.

It didn't take her long to make it to town, she pulled her umbrella close and her shoes made a satisfying wet smack with each step on the brick 'road'. She was looking down at her feet watching the splashing water around her shoes as she stepped when she suddenly came to an abrupt halt, smashing into a bodyincoming knocking the two of them to the ground.

"Oh my God I'm so sorry!" She apologized, standing quickly and wiping off her legs. She looked over to see a dark mass of clothing still slowly getting up from the ground. "Are you okay, I'm so so sorry!"

The man was taller than her, about her brother's height, with a long face, sunken eyes, long flat black hair and smelled of cologne and cigarettes. He stood on his own and adjusted his dark, almost black, purple hoodie. "Its fine." He muttered, looking up she met his dark eyes, "what were you even doing anyways?" He asked.

He deserved an answer, she felt like she knocked him with a force that would send him to next year. "I was.. uh.." she blinked hard and looked away from him, realizing she had been fixated on his eyes, blushing with embarrassment she responded, "I was watching my shoes in the rainwater as I walked." She said softly. "I'll try to be more aware." She looked up at him again, her mood totally switching back to her normal upbeat tone, "I'm Riley, by the way! Just moved here yesterday!"

The man was taken aback by her sudden change in attitude, he blinked in surprise before he responded, "uh, hey. I'm Sebastian." He looked her up and down quickly, "so why did you choose to move here? Of all places?"

She rubbed the back of her head, "long story haha." Her eyes flicked between him and the shop but before she could say anything Sebastian spoke.

"That's cool. Well see you around." He left quickly, pulling his hoodie closer to keep the light rain out of his face.

Other than her interaction with the new local, Riley's day went by pretty smoothly, she discovered the owners of the shop were Abigail's parents and they sold much more than she anticipated, including seasonal seeds, which she couldn't help but buying a few to try something more than parsnips. Most of her time there was spent perusing their stock and chatting up any local she hadn't met yet. By now she felt like she had met an entire world's worth of people. As she checked out though, she checked her phone for the time and called her brother while she left the store.

"Hey!" She started speaking before Roman could utter a syllable, "Start getting ready, we're going to the saloon tonight to go meet people and have some dinner."

An angry groan was the reply she got, " fine. You on your way?"

"Yeah, I'm passing the bus stop now, I should be home in five minutes. See you in a bit." She hung up and wasted no time getting home.

Once she arrived, Roman was upstairs and she could hear some type of music coming from his room which was directly above hers. She unpacked the food she bought and ran to her room, searching desperately for new clothes to wear.

She pulled out some black skinny jeans and a black shirt with a band print on the front. She debated whether or not to wear a gray beanie. While she was deciding she started to pull her shirt over her head and was immediately met with the smell of the guy she had bumped into today. What was his name? Sam? No that was the fun blonde. Sean? Se..Sebastian! She came back to her senses from trying to figure out his name to realize she was just standing there and smelling her shirt. She quickly removed the shirt and shook her head.

What the hell was all that about? She threw on the clothes she had pulled out for herself and in the end decided to go with the beanie. She sprayed some perfume to at least mask her, as she called it, "stank of the day" and left her room.

Making her way to the door she slipped on her shoes and looked around for her brother. "Roman?" She called out, "you alive?"

"Yeah!" She heard a response from just upstairs. Just as soon she saw her older sibling trot down the stairs, clad in some ripped jeans, a basic white top with his favorite black leather coat.

"Ready?" She nodded and they left. As they walked she hoped that she wasn't too early or too late. Her mind racing she quickly busied herself with her phone while her brother casually lit a cigarette.

Before long they had made it, Riley pointing out the shop, the clinic, the houses and the like. They made their way over to the saloon and Riley pushed the door open to be greeted with the wonderful smells from her last visit. She turned around to see Roman taking a sharp turn to the side of the building.

"Where are you going?" She asked quickly.

"Gonna light another before I go in." He answered, "calm the nerves."

Riley laughed, "fine you big baby, see you in a minute." And she walked in.

Roman covered the lighter as he connected the flame to the cigarette and inhaled. He puffed another two times before he leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes and listening to the clatter within the restaurant. He knew he wasn't ready for this kind of attention, but if there is a saloon, there is booze, and where there is booze is a Roman in a good mood. He inhaled again and held it for a moment, letting the burn wake him up a little.

The sound of the door caught his attention and some light footsteps coming his way. Riley coming to check on him already? She couldn't leave home alone for five minutes. He looked over and instead was met by a man dressed in all black with equally dark hair. Both of their presences seemed to come as a surprise to the both of them before the boy in the hoodie went to turn away.

"Sorry, I didn't know anyone was out here." The stranger said and went to turn away. Roman noticed he was putting a lighter back in his pocket.

"Nah, mate." Roman puffed and exhaled the smoke away from the direction the other was standing, "more space than I need." He scooted over and propped himself up on the trash can as a seat, "ya seem okay. Just takin in the night."

The other shuffled for a moment, clearly uncomfortable, but made his way over regardless, keeping a respectable distance and pulled out a lighter and a pack of cigarettes. He lit one, inhaled very deeply, held the smoke, then exhaled slowly as if he was savoring the flavor.

They both stayed there, silently staring off into the night, the smell of tobacco clouding around them. Against his normal attitude, Roman decided it was best to at least introduce himself, for the sake of his sister and more importantly, clientele.

"Name's Roman." He stated bluntly, "you?"

"Sebastian." The other responded, "accent?"

"UK." Roman answered.

They remained in silence a while longer before Sebastian fidgeted his hand in his pocket to pull out another cigarette. He puffed through the first one pretty quickly. A familiar scent filled the air and Roman peeked over, looking into the carton the man was holding. One of the sticks were different than the others, he noticed the familiar brown paper and smirked.

"You smoke, mate?"

"What? I-"

"It's cool, I'm looking for a guy since we moved out here. I'll have to run into you again soon." He looked around, "better get in before the sis has a panic." Standing he held out his hand to the other, "nice meeting you."

Sebastian grabbed his hand and shook it. "You too."

Roman walked up to the door he took a deep breath, preparing for the fresh hell that would await his nerves within the establishment.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman practices some guitar and gets some alone time, while Riley goes mining with Abigail.

**Chapter**   **3**

_Hangovers and mining!!!_

Light beamed through the windows with unrelenting intensity. Or at least if felt that way. Roman groaned and buried his face under his pillow. He may have had one too many beers last night and who was that braided red head? He did remember he had a solid drinking competition with a woman.. who was she? Pam? Yeah that sounds right. Until some girl came in, yelling at him, calling him an 'enabler'. Whatever.

He peeked out from under his pillow and checked his phone. 1pm. Jesus. He stood up and put some boxers on and walked downstairs. He was greeted with a sandwich placed on the table and a note:

'Good morning! You were pretty messed up last night. Thankfully you agreed to go home without a problem! Haha! Here is a sandwich (if you haven't eaten it already). Dont wait up for me, Abigail and I are going to explore some mines! See you later!"

"Thanks" he muttered in the happiest voice he could muster given his current state. He supposed since she was gone it would be a good opportunity to get some practice in on his guitar and maybe get some 'alone' time to kill this hangover headache. He felt his shorts twitch at the thought of it. Fuck it. The sandwich can wait. He went back upstairs to his room and shut the door, locked it, and sat down on his bed. He rifled through his backpack and gingerly pulled out a medium sized metal case and placed it next to him, then reached back in and pulled out a tiny bag halfway filled with a lumpy green herb. Riley didn't know he had this last bit, he honestly didn't want to share, this was his final bit of his favorite strand from the UK. 

He grabbed a bottle of water off his windowsill as well as the lighter next to the pack of cigarettes he kept there. Opening the case he revealed a beautifully crafted stained pink bong, and he quickly assembled his goods, his erection growing with excitement, it almost pained him with it's hardness, stretching his boxers it began to poke through the slot in the front.

Packing the small bowl he pressed his lips to the opening at the top and lit the bowl. Inhaling for a minute to build smoke then lifting out the bowl he thoroughly took in the vapors, held it for a moment, then released. He coughed hard a few times, put down his bong, then laid back with his eyes closed and let the results wash over him. His lower half still aching to be touched, and now, his head clouded and swimming. Grabbing ahold of himself, which had now fully unsheathed itself from his boxers, he moved his hand up and down the length of it. He groaned, it had been far too long since he had this kind of release. He thought of the girl that was yelling at him last night at the saloon and smirked, thinking how she would look with her loud mouth full of his cock. He began pumping his hand a little faster, his free hand grabbing light fistfuls of his own hair. Who else was there? That girl his sister was hanging out with, yeah, the one with the purple hair. He licked his lips and wondered what she tasted like. 

"Fuck.." he moaned quietly, his movements getting a little faster and one leg falling off the side of his bed. His hips bucked softy into his own grasp, he felt himself swell and his balls tighten full of his seed. Eagerly he continued, letting himself build until it hurt. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. He moaned loudly, feeling the familiar pressure begin to release from him. His hand toyed and massaged his twitching length further as the white fluid continued erupting from him. Finally, he couldn't give any more and rested for a moment, then sat up. There was quite the mess to clean.

* * *

 

"ALRIGHT!" Riley exclaimed with excitement, she had just sliced a small green animated glob in half and watched it melt into the ground, "what ARE these things?"

Abigail shrugged, "not sure, but they get nastier the deeper you go, I've only gone down a few levels, I'm not really sure how far it goes."

Riley scanned the area and a small sparkle caught her eye. She trotted over and picked up a cool black rock and rolled it in her hand a moment before walking back over to Abigail, "so what's this now? It looks like a rock but it's slick and shiny?"

The purple hair girl took the object from Riley's hand and examined it, "obsidian. I've never seen it this close to the surface! It's a nice trinket, good find!" She handed the stone back to Riley, " there is plenty of ore and gems down here, I've been lucky to find some amethyst, it's probably my favorite of them all! But I think we should head back, you're not equipped with what you'll need to get further down. If you want to take this more seriously, the adventurer's guild is just outside the mines here, they have swords and armor for sale, you should check it out."

Riley nodded, maybe this is something even her brother would like? Either way, she was excited to tell him what she had seen today. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, it was about 4pm now. Admittingly they had gone down a few levels and lost track of time.

"Wanna grab some food at my place? I've got video games and Tv?" Riley offered.

"You had me at video games!" Abigail laughed. They made their way over to the elevator and Abigail pressed the '0' button, which would take them up to the exit. Riley continued playing with her little bit of earth she had found, admiring it's glossy exterior and how dark it was, but then again maybe that was because there was not a lot of light down here. She anticipated going home to show her brother as they reached the top and the sweet smell of fresh air started filling her lungs.

* * *

 

The girls trotted up the front steps and Riley heard a faint noise coming from within the house. She opened the door softly and listened; music. Roman was listening to his music and playing his guitar along to it, and singing along with what she could hear. 

"Your brother, is... very different from you," Abigail said to her, "no offense!"

"None taken!" Riley laughed, "we're only half siblings, I barely see him as a brother and more of a weird friend honestly.. who likes to sing to bands and play guitar, haha! But let's go bother him, he wouldn't forgive me if I he found out I didn't invite him down for video games and food."

They crept upstairs, the closer they got the more they could pick out what he was playing. As Roman's voice became more apparent, Abigail nudged Riley and mouthed, 'that's HIM?' Riley nodded and mouthed back, 'he does this as a hobby, go figure!'

"I never been so confused about who knows the truth  
It began when I wanted to say it was you  
'Cause I swore you had your head in this too

 

If you believe me  
We can stand the test of time like no one else  
If you believe me  
You know it means you have to disbelieve yourself  
If you believe me" 

 They knocked on the door, the guitar stopped and the music turned down, "Come in!"

 Riley poked her head in to examine her brother, he was prone to being in just shorts or pajama pants a lot of the time that he was home. He was decent. Riley threw the rest of the door open.

 Roman's face grew a little warm with blush when he saw who was standing next to his sister, "You could have said you were bringing company!" He yelled, "what if I was in just my knickers?" 

 "That's why I peeked first!" Riley responded, unphased, "we're going to make some food and play some vidja games, you in?" 

 "Sure"

 Abigail spoke, "hey uh, question, Sam and Seb are in a band, would you uh," she shifted, she honestly didntd know quite how to address the man, "would you want to practice or hang out with them?"

 "No offense, love," he responded, putting his acoustic guitar on his bed and walking over to them, "I'm not too great with crowds." 

 "Ah," the girl responded breaking eye contact with him, "that's okay, thanks though!"

 Riley's face scrunched up, "nah, they're coming over! Abby, text the boys, we're having a get together!"

 "RILEY!" Roman argued

 "Come on! You need to socialize! It's another reason why we moved out here!"

 Roman grunted, "fine. But you're buying me 'socializing juice'"

 "I'll tell them to pick some up!" Abigsul chimed, already texting the two of them.

 Roman huffed and they all made their way downstairs.

* * *

Riley was pouring the two some juice as they all attempted to decide what game to play when there was a knock at the front door.

 "Come in!" Riley called out.

 The first to enter was Sam, bounding in with excitement, followed by Sebastian, flicking away the butt of a cigarette before he entered.

 "Wow!" Same exclaimed, "it's so EMPTY in here!"

 "Thanks for reminding me." Riley chuckled. 

 Roman was on the couch, invested in his phone while Abigail sorted through their collection of games. Roman looked up from his phone and at Sam, a large paper bag in his arms, "for me?" he asked.

 Sam all but skipped over, "yessir! Fresh from the Pierre's, the cheapest bottle of whiskey I could find." He reached in and pulled out a bottle of amber liquid then handed it over to the dark haired man.

 "Thanks, mate" Roman unscrewed the cap and held the bottle up, "cheers!" And took a rather large swig the held the bottle out to the others, offering them a drink, to which they all declined, "suit yourselves" he shrugged then noticed the third male in the room, "Oi, you're the chap I met outside the bar last night, yeah?"

 "Oh, uh, yeah." He responded uneasily.

 Roman nodded and took another drink, he thought honestly about putting down the whole thing tonight, but for the sake of his sister he decided to remain at most, tipsy.

 In that moment Abigail had decided on a game and Riley returned with their cups of juice. She motioned to the boys to join her brother on the couch. Sam sat in the middle while Sebastian claimed the far end, looking as if he was trying to phase through the couch, she could clearly see how uncomfortable he was to be in a social situation like this, much like her brother.  Abigail remained on the floor, on the side of Roman and Riley sat next to her, moreso in the middle of both Sam and Sebastian.

 The game flicked on, old Mortal Kombat. Classic choice.

 "Alright, loser gives up the controller to the person to their left, if you win 4 times in a row you are crowned champion!" Abigail announced and threw a controller to Roman, who Riley assumed she thought would be an easy target since he was two swigs into his bottle of whiskey. Bad choice.

 "Begin!"

 The game started and Riley watched for a moment before she remembered her little prize from earlier today in her pocket, she pulled it out and started fiddling with it in her hand. Guess she'd have to wait until tomorrow to show her brother.

 "Oh hey, that's really cool." A soft whisper close by surprised her, she looked up a little and noticed the long dark hair the the man behind her.

 "Thanks," she whispered back, trying not to intrude on Sam hyping up whoever was winning in the moment, "Abby and I found it in the mines today." She managed to catch his eyes, she noticed that for once they were softer and more intrigued than she had ever seen them. Drastically different from the way he had looked when she had seen him any other time. She liked it. Maybe this was a way to get him to loosen up? "Here, take it." She turned around swiftly and grabbed his hand and placing her little chunk of obsidian in his open grasp. She paused briefly, his hands were so soft. 

"You really don't have to do that." Sebastian went to argue.

"It's fine! I'm sure I'll find more." She flipped back to watch the screen but looked at him just long enough to see him admire the stone in his hand carefully. A small inkling of a feeling began to well in her. She kind of liked being around this guy, and she wanted to get to know him a little more. In the few days that they've been around each other, she's come to realize that she enjoys making him smile.

"Ugh! You're awful!" 

Riley's inner thoughts were cut quickly to Abigail raging.

"Don't hate the player, hate the game." Roman mocked.

Abigail passed her controller over to Riley, "here, you better kick his ass!"

Riley laughed and went to select her fighter.

"I'm sorry you lost, babe" a familiar voice came from behind her. Her face felt like it had gone ghost white.

"Its whatever, Riley will show him, right?" Abigail said as she walked over to Sebastian and placed herself next to him on the armrest of the couch.

"Yeah! Haha." Riley said allowed and selected a character. 'Fuck..' she thought.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman gets a cryptic text and Riley tries to not be awkward about her feelings.

* * *

 

 

> **Chapter 4**

_The past and the present_

 

A few weeks had passed by in about the blink of an eye, Roman had gotten a job as a mechanic is Zuzu city and Riley started turning up small profits with her farming. Spring was turning to summer very quickly and Riley would be found either clearing space on the farm for the new crops, she was eager to grow some melons, in the mines looking for gems to collect, or spending time with Evelyn to learn tricks of the trade when it came to gardening. Roman would get nervous about her being around Alex too often. He was aware of what jocks were like, but his sister insisted that they were just friends, that he wasn't like other jocks, and that he was interested in Hayley instead. Roman would even take time out of his day to swing by Robin's, mostly to have secret business with Sebastian, but also to watch him and Sam play Solarian Chronicles from the sidelines. He had to admit, moving out here wasn't his first choice, but he was beginning to like it and a lot of stress that he carried with him before started to melt away. Life was good.

*buzz buzz*

"Oh for fucks sake" Roman said angrily reaching for  his phone.

"Everything okay?" Sam asked, wearing the cardboard Knights helmet that Riley had made for him.

"Yeah just a text, if it's my sister I'm gonna choke her." He was fighting his phone from his pants still, he absolutely refused to change his sitting position on the floor just for his phone, "speaking of, how's the bird Seb?"

"Bir- oh! She's fine. Helping her dad with the shop today." Sebastian answered, he was also wearing a prop Riley had made, a blue scarf with poorly stitched in yellow stars.

 Roman finally fished out his phone to see he had gotten a text. From a blocked number? He opened it and his face when ghost white.

 

You can't hide Roman.

 

Roman stood up and went straight to the bathroom on the other side of the room without a word, closing the door firmly then swiftly bending over the open toilet bowl. He regretted not having breakfast this morning, only his stomach acid was coming up. He dry heaved a moment longer before he heard some disturbance in the room. He could make out the faint voices from the other side of the door. Riley just came in, she must have finished up early with Evelyn.

"Hey is Roman here?"

"Yeah, uh, bathroom. I think he's sick?"

Roman stood up, wiped his mouth, flushed the toilet, rinsed his hands and exited the bathroom quickly. He made sure to look at the ground and avoid eye contact with anyone as he walked over to his sister who was still in the bedroom doorway.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine. We're getting a dog."

"What? Why? I mean YES. But why?"

"We are going to need a guard dog, don't you want to get chickens soon? We will have to keep away the raccoons and foxes. Now let's go before the pound closes."

* * *

 

"Does he  _really_ have to sleep outside?" Riley whined as she began to play with and pamper the massive dog.

"What good is an indoor guard dog?" Roman argued wrapping the end of a 10ft chain around the tree just on the other side of their porch.

It had been two days since they had adopted him and they just brought him home from the vet, getting his shots updated and micro chipped. The veterinarian had to sedate him just to get in the establishment. The dog was a massive 200lb caucasian shepard and chow mix. The staff at the pound had told them that the dog was on their kill list since no one wanted to adopt him because of his temper, which caught everyone by surprise when the dog connected almost immediately with Riley. He was hesitant toward Roman but otherwise was beyond gentle with the both of them. The dog was sandy brown all over excluding his all black face and ears. They discovered he was also moderately trained, the basic sit, stay, and lay down. The dog came with a rather fitting name as well; Kujo.

The two days that they waited to bring Kujo home Roman didn't sleep at all. He would stay out on the porch all night, smoking cigarettes. He would tell Riley he just couldn't sleep all the while keeping his knife and handgun hidden from her sight.

She was babying the giant animal when Roman cam over to attatch the chain to his new very large red collar. The dog panted heavily, drooling everywhere. Summer was coming, he figured he would get the dog a kiddie pool to cool off in.

"You can bring him all the treats and toys you want." Roman said kneeling down by Kujo and patting his head, "you have a farm, so we both know he will be eating well. Besides, the leash can come all the way up to the porch, so you can sit outside with him if you want." 

Riley pouted a minute and looked at their new dog, "are you okay with that big guy?" She came down face to face with the dog who immediately began licking her face all over.

Suddenly the dog stopped and stood looking over Riley's shoulder and growling viciously, then began barking and pushing past the two, angrily trying to get in front of the them. The siblings looked over to see Sam and Abigail who were noticeably frozen in place at the sight of the animal.

"Kujo, sit!" Roman commanded. The dog immediately stopped barking and sat down. A huge weight was lifted off his shoulders, the dog listened. "Good boy." He ruffled Kujo on the top of the head "come over, slowly." 

Sam came first, Abigail followed closely behind, they moved slowly over to them while the dog growled lowly in defense. Riley and Roman both repeating "easy" until the pair were at the porch. Roman slipped the two of them a treat, "one at a time, let him sniff you and then give him the treat."

Sam held out his hand, clearly fearful. The dog sniffed, still growling, then licked Sam's half closed fist. To which he carefully opened and revealed a treat. Abigail followed the same approach.

"Good boy!" Riley cheered, hugging and kissing the dog, who was probably going to put a hole in the old floorboards of the porch with how hard he was thumping his tail.

"Those foxes don't stand a chance!" Sam laughed, fear still in the back of his voice. The two of them kept a good distance.

"NOTHING stands a chance!" Abigail returned.

"Just come by more frequently, definitely bring Sebastian too. The more often you're over the more comfortable he will be around you." Roman said, he had handled guard dogs before. They weren't his, but the mechanic's back in Liverpool. Ferocious beasts they were. "So anyways, what brings you two here?"

"We've decided to go to the beach!" Sam exclaimed.

Riley gasped excitedly.

"Uh, not my thing." Roman said dryly.

"Oh come ON Roman!" Riley complained.

"Don't have a bathing suit, sorry." 

"Sebastian might have one that's your size" Sam suggested, "Abby and I will meet you there if you decide to come, Riley, convince your brother!"

They both trotted off down the road, once out of sight Riley snapped over to Roman, eyes wide and begging.

"I'm staying here with Kujo." Roman said firmly.

"Rommmaaaaannnn!" 

"If Sebastian has a suit, MAYBE. Until then I'm going to get that bone we bought from the kitchen."

Riley squealed and took off, nearly flying as she ran toward Robin's.

* * *

 

*Knock knock knock knock knock*

"Uh, come in?" A voice responded.

Riley stepped in quickly.

"Oh, hey, give me a second, I'm just finishing something up." Sebastian said.

 Riley let herself in and sat on the far end of the couch in his room. She listened to the rapid clacking of his keyboard while she examined his room. Roman had been in here more often than her, she really only ever popped in when she needed to retrieve her brother. It was nice. Being in a basement made the air cool, she admired his bookshelf and wondered what kind of books he read. He had a pretty simple bed and a little table in the middle of the room. She admitted to herself that she had been trying to avoid him since she discovered he an Abigail were dating. She wanted to keep her little feelings at bay. 

Her mind trailed off, and she unconsciously began smelling the air around her. Cologne and cigarettes. She closed her eyes and breathed in the smells. Ot was comforting in a way.

"Alright, sorry about that. I was working on something for a client."

Her mind snapped back into reality. "Oh it's fine! What kind of client if you don't mind me asking?" She had stood and began to make her way over, watching him for any type of body language that she was getting too close.

"I'm a programmer. I basically take designs from clients and turn it into a type of 'language' the computer will understand." 

By now Riley was standing at his side, looking at the computer screen, she was awestruck at the  lines of text on his screen, it was like looking at an alien language. A little notification popped up on his computer. A message from Sam. Sebastian opened his phone to read the message and sighed.

"Sam wants me to come out. I would really rather not, I've got a lot of work to do today and I don't think I can handle people right now."

Riley went to respond but was cut off by the presence of Robin.

"Hey Seb, just letting you know that Abigail said she is coming by later." His mom stated.

"Did you tell her I'm working?" He groaned.

"I did, but she insisted that she would stop by." And with that she left the room.

Sebastian groaned and rubbed his face in his hands, "no one here takes my job seriously."

Riley squatted down and folded her elbows onto the edge of his desk, "I think it's pretty cool what you're doing. Look at all this! Its incredible!" She gestured to his monitor that was riddled with lines of code.

"Heh. Thanks I guess." He looked over at her to see she was beaming smiles at him.

She got caught in the moment, unknowingly letting herself relish the moment they were having together before she jumped back into the present. She stood up quickly, met with some hard blushing on her face, she looked away from him and pretended to be looking for something.

"Uh, Roman wanted to know if you had some swim trunks he could borrow."

"Oh, uhm, yeah I guess." Sebastian stood up and casually walked over to his dresser, opened up one of the drawers and rifled through it for a moment before pulling out a pair of all black swim trunks. Figures.

"I don't use them. Ever. My mom bought them for me thinking it would entice me to go out more. It didn't work. So he can keep them as long as he needs." 

Riley took the swimwear from him and smiled at him, "thank you! I'm sure he'll be giving them back sooner than later, considering he is only MAYBE coming to the beach with the rest of us. But, uh, I'll see you around!" 

And will that she left, closing the door behind her quickly. She inhaled deeply and held it a moment and sighed it out, she was really going to have to try much harder to keep her emotions in place.


End file.
